chris_in_pdx
OLD MAN
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2008
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Hi. Old Blazer Fan here. Just wanted to drop you a quick note after last night's gut-punching loss. I can see that look in your eyes. It's kind of a bleary-eyed, woozy, "what just happened?" look. Believe me, I know it. Being a fan of this team for nearly 40 years, I know it well.
One of the first things that you are going to have to accept as a new Blazer Fan is a level of pain and agony. No, what happened to the Blazers last night and the game before is nothing new. Blazer teams have been doing this for generations: unlimited potential, high expectations, fighting hard, giving their fans hope, and then crumbling at the moment of truth. It's almost a tradition.
Somehow, someway... when players don uniforms with the Portland logo on them, they turn into guys who fall apart under the big spotlight. They play well for 3 and 4/5 quarters in a game, but put the game on the line when it REALLY matters? Forget it. You might as well chuck the ball out of bounds and head to the locker room (which a couple of Blazer teams have actually done in the past).
In reality, there's only ever been one Blazer team and group of individuals that have ever stared down the bright lights of clutch and rose above it. You might have read what they did in 1977. What that team did should not be understated, but then again, they didn't know any better. They didn't know that teams from Portland, Oregon are supposed to wilt under the pressure of the Big Game(tm). The Blazers were a green organization then, wide-eyed and ambitious. Karma, however, would pay that team and it's fans back in spades the following years.
I could go over the vast number of data points in my theories of Historical Blazer Woe, but I've been there, done that, and I don't really feel like rehashing the obvious. Blazer history is littered with teams that have gotten in front of the national cameras and gagged like a Porn Star. I'm actually kind of heartened by the Team's performance last night: it shows they've done their research on what it is to be a Portland Trail Blazer better than I had thought.
So in closing, New Blazer Fan, let me pat you on the back and say "there, there". Some of you won't last through many of these types of games, and will retreat to the safety of becoming a Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, or Cavs fan. But to those who stay, let me cheer you up by telling you that, for a lifelong Blazer fan, there HAS to be a finish line. I have faith in the fact that, before I die, the Blazers will somehow rise above the ghosts of their history and recapture the glory and the elation of the ultimate prize. There will be a team, hopefully in the near future, that will finally look into the cameras of ESPN, ABC, TNT, and the national media during the big, meaningful games and not choke, not be the ones with their heads hanging low after the final buzzer, being the team that Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Bill Simmons, and David Stern can honestly say "What a smart, intelligent, great team that comes through in the clutch!".
See you for Game 5. Go Blazers.
One of the first things that you are going to have to accept as a new Blazer Fan is a level of pain and agony. No, what happened to the Blazers last night and the game before is nothing new. Blazer teams have been doing this for generations: unlimited potential, high expectations, fighting hard, giving their fans hope, and then crumbling at the moment of truth. It's almost a tradition.
Somehow, someway... when players don uniforms with the Portland logo on them, they turn into guys who fall apart under the big spotlight. They play well for 3 and 4/5 quarters in a game, but put the game on the line when it REALLY matters? Forget it. You might as well chuck the ball out of bounds and head to the locker room (which a couple of Blazer teams have actually done in the past).
In reality, there's only ever been one Blazer team and group of individuals that have ever stared down the bright lights of clutch and rose above it. You might have read what they did in 1977. What that team did should not be understated, but then again, they didn't know any better. They didn't know that teams from Portland, Oregon are supposed to wilt under the pressure of the Big Game(tm). The Blazers were a green organization then, wide-eyed and ambitious. Karma, however, would pay that team and it's fans back in spades the following years.
I could go over the vast number of data points in my theories of Historical Blazer Woe, but I've been there, done that, and I don't really feel like rehashing the obvious. Blazer history is littered with teams that have gotten in front of the national cameras and gagged like a Porn Star. I'm actually kind of heartened by the Team's performance last night: it shows they've done their research on what it is to be a Portland Trail Blazer better than I had thought.
So in closing, New Blazer Fan, let me pat you on the back and say "there, there". Some of you won't last through many of these types of games, and will retreat to the safety of becoming a Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, or Cavs fan. But to those who stay, let me cheer you up by telling you that, for a lifelong Blazer fan, there HAS to be a finish line. I have faith in the fact that, before I die, the Blazers will somehow rise above the ghosts of their history and recapture the glory and the elation of the ultimate prize. There will be a team, hopefully in the near future, that will finally look into the cameras of ESPN, ABC, TNT, and the national media during the big, meaningful games and not choke, not be the ones with their heads hanging low after the final buzzer, being the team that Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Bill Simmons, and David Stern can honestly say "What a smart, intelligent, great team that comes through in the clutch!".
See you for Game 5. Go Blazers.
